SA Twins Designated US 'Global Terrorists'

They are the first South Africans to be added to the list.

The South African twin brothers accused of being Islamic State terrorists, known as the "Thulsie Twins", have officially been put on the U.S. terrorism watch list. They are the first South Africans to be added to the list.

The U.S. State Department named the pair "Specially Designated Global Terrorists" on Tuesday afternoon.

"These designations seek to deny Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie the resources they need to plan and carry out terrorist attacks," the State Department said in a statement.

"Terrorism designations expose and isolate entities and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system," it said.

The 23-year old twins now face 12 charges when their provisional indictment case comes to the Supreme Court later this year, after a new charge of fraud was added in April.

The twins were arrested in July 2016 during raids in Newclare and Azaadville on the West Rand.

According to their charge sheet, the brothers, who were arrested along with siblings Ebrahim and Fatima Patel, were allegedly linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group and were allegedly planning to set off explosives at a U.S. embassy and "Jewish institutions" in South Africa.

The investigating officer found the twins had been active on social media prior to their arrests, allegedly discussing matters that could incriminate them.